Minow Writes on ReDigi Case and E-book Marketplace

"Libraries and Friends groups interested in reselling or giving away used ebooks or other digital content files (or purchasing them) may be a little more cautious after the March 30 court decision, Capitol Records v. ReDigi Inc., issued by District Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York," Minow, a Stanford-trained lawyer and former librarian, writes.

ReDigi, who virtual marketplace for reselling mp3 music, has recently expressed interest in expanding its business to include the reselling of e-books. That company was the subject of a lawsuit from Columbia Records, the large record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment.

The case, Minow notes, is an example of the mounting conflicts arising over what Minow and others see as outdated copyright laws.

"The court stated that a user may still resell a digital file by selling it with the hardware onto which it was originally downloaded, such as a hard disk, iPod, or other memory device. While recognizing that this is more onerous than reselling CDs and cassettes, the court stated that these limits were nonetheless desirable," she writes. "Used digital copies are as desirable as new copies, thereby harming the publishers’ market. Moreover, the court said that it is up to Congress, not the Court, to revise an outmoded law."

Minow and other faculty members and students in the GSLIS are spearheading a petition effort urging the White House to examine a possible overhaul of current copyright law for the digital age.